


5 Times Zane Thought Nick & Kelly Were More Than Friends & The One Time They Confirmed It

by amirosebooks



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: 5+1 Things, M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-24
Updated: 2014-05-24
Packaged: 2018-01-26 07:38:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1680155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amirosebooks/pseuds/amirosebooks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zane's observations of Nick & Kelly together during:</p><p>1. Nola hotel cuddling<br/>2. Nola hospital<br/>3. Bait & Switch dinner together<br/>4. Milkshakes diner snuggling<br/>5. Showing up somewhere disheveled in Scotland</p><p>1. After the “I knew it!” Nick and Zane chat in Ball & Chain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. No. 1 — Nola Hotel Cuddling

Zane rubbed his dry, tired eyes. He looked up at the sky, attempting to get a glimpse of the stars, but there was only a faint white haze from the street lights and shadows reflected off the sparse clouds above them. This wasn’t anything like the private, romantic weekend he’d planned for him and Ty. Part of him still hoped he’d be able to find a quiet moment to propose to Ty while they were here in a city Ty loved.

This weekend was the first time Zane had really gotten to spend any time with the remaining members of Team Sidewinder all together. He didn’t like to count the time when he was temporarily blinded by the bomber who’d spent a few weeks tormenting Baltimore.

Owen was cold and indifferent toward Ty and Zane so far. Zane didn’t have high hopes for that changing over the course of the weekend. Digger seemed nice, though more than a touch crazy. Kelly, the one they all called Doc, was a compact bundle of energy and dry wit. Once he got going it seemed the only one who could pull him back to something resembling public-appropriate behavior was Nick.

Zane and Nick had reached an accord in the months since their chat on Nick’s boat. Zane was even, begrudgingly, growing to like the man. Even though Zane was a touch annoyed that Nick’s call had interrupted his proposal plans, he couldn’t fault the man—or the team—for wanting to celebrate Elias’s birthday together.

Zane was snapped from his thoughts by Ty patting his shoulder as he stood and made his way back into the hotel room to use the restroom. Zane smiled at him as he walked past with the deliberate steps of an inebriated man.

A breeze kicked up over the balcony, sending the scent of hoppy beer through the air from the mostly empty bottles Kelly had stacked up between their chairs. Zane’s fingers curled into a fist on his thigh as he breathed shallow breaths through his mouth and fought the urge to finish off the bottles.

“So, Garrett,” Nick said in a quiet voice.

Zane let out a slow breath and turned to look at the man. “Yeah?”

“What do you think of New Orleans so far?”

A small group of partiers chose that moment to starting singing loudly and off-key on the street below them. Zane chuckled and Nick’s shoulders twitched as he bit his lip against his laughter.

“It’s, interesting, that’s for sure. Beautiful and a little crowded. Very different from Miami in some ways and a little bit of the same in others.”

Nick nodded.

Zane opened his mouth to ask Nick what he thought of the city, but he was interrupted by Kelly standing up suddenly and crashing into his legs. Kelly’s arms pinwheeled a bit. One hand flailed and landed on the top of Zane’s head, the other clutched the railing. Kelly swayed on his feet between his two white-knuckled holds.

“I’m okay,” Kelly said in a slurred voice.

“Kels, what are you doing?” Nick stood up and wrapped an arm around Kelly’s waist. “Sit down before your drunk ass falls over the railing.”

Nick gave Zane an apologetic smile as he pried Kelly’s fingers from Zane’s curls. Zane waved him off and returned the smile.

Once Kelly’s arms were free he wrapped them around Nick like Nick was made of metal and Kelly was a giant magnet. Nick ended up with his arms pinned to his sides and Kelly’s head tucked under his chin.

Nick tilted his head to one side to look at Kelly. Zane noticed a fond smile tugging at Nick’s mouth as he stared at the man holding him.

“It’s really hard to move with you clinging like this, Doc,” Nick said in a soft voice.

Kelly grunted and nuzzled against Nick’s collarbone. “Tired.”

Zane lifted a hand to cover his mouth as he laughed.

Nick rolled his eyes, and his fond smile grew wider. His hands landed on Kelly’s hips and he nodded his chin at the door behind Zane.

“Could you grab the door, Garrett? I need to put princess here to bed.”

“Sure,” Zane said as he stood.

Nick somehow managed to maneuver Kelly through the door without disturbing Kelly’s clinging. Nick walked Kelly over to a chair in the room and pushed at his hips. “Sit.”

Zane looked around the room. He snorted when he saw Ty had curled up on their bed already.

He turned back to Nick and Kelly just in time to see Nick produce yet another bottle of water from who knows where and push it at Kelly.

“Drink up, son. You’ll have one hell of a hangover if you don’t.”

“You’re a hangover,” Kelly slurred as he accepted the bottle and started to drink.

“You think the maid has moved the laundry cart away from your door yet?” Zane asked Nick.

Nick shrugged. “We should be able to get it out of the way now. Wrangling this one down a couple floors will be a problem, but I’ve done it before.”

Zane hummed thoughtfully.

He desperately wanted more time alone with Ty, but Ty was already well on his way to being asleep for the night. Zane was also trying to make an effort not to be a complete asshole to Ty’s friends.

Zane waved a hand at the couch that was set up next to the balcony doors. “I’m pretty sure that has a pullout bed in it. You guys are welcome to it.”

“We couldn’t do that, Garrett,” Nick said.

“It’ll be fine. Ty’s already asleep and I think Kelly is falling asleep in that chair anyway.”

Nick turned to look at Kelly.

Kelly had his elbow propped up on the small desk next to the chair he was sitting in. His temple rested on his hand, his eyes were closed and his mouth was slack. The now empty water bottle sat on the desk next to Kelly’s elbow.

Nick’s expression softened slightly as he watched his friend. Zane could barely make out a small smile tugging at his lips in the low light from the bedside lamps.

There was something familiar about the way Nick looked at Kelly. Zane couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was though.

Zane cleared his throat. “I’ll help you get the pullout set up.”

Nick studied him with raised brows for a moment before finally nodding. “Thanks, Garrett.”

Once they got the bed put together Zane looked down at it with a frown. He hoped, for their sake, it ended up being more comfortable than it looked.

Kelly stumbled out of the bathroom and crawled into the bed almost immediately after Zane and Nick got the last of the blankets and pillows on it.

Nick snorted.

“Yeah, just claim all of that for yourself, Doc,” Nick said with a laugh.

Kelly flipped him off without sitting up from where he’d sprawled in the middle of the bed with his face smashed into a pillow. “Bite me, Lucky.”

“You couldn’t handle me biting you,” Nick said as he pointed at Kelly before making his way into the bathroom.

Zane looked back and forth between them and shook his head. He was quickly learning that all of Team Sidewinder was completely insane.

Fifteen minutes later Zane turned off the light on his side of the bed and the room fell into darkness. Ty immediately rolled over and wrapped himself around Zane, tucking his nose and forehead against Zane’s cheek.

Zane smiled and rubbed his cheek against Ty’s snuggling.

Zane’s eyes grew heavy as sleep started to wash over him like gentle waves on a beach.

“Hey Irish?” Kelly’s drunken attempt at a quiet voice cracked through the silence in the room.

Zane’s eyes snapped open and Ty tensed next to him.

“What?” Nick asked with a harsh whisper.

“Why are you all the way over there?”

“It’s hot, go to sleep.”

Kelly lasted long enough for Ty’s body to melt back against Zane’s before speaking again.

“Nick,” Kelly said in a voice that was closer to a real whisper this time.

“What do you want?”

Zane looked over at the fold out bed. Kelly held his arms wide open in Nick’s direction. Zane could barely make out in the light from the window the way Nick’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Kelly’s open arms.

“Cuddle,” Kelly whispered.

Nick huffed. “No, go the fuck to sleep.”

Kelly grunted and tried to pull Nick toward him. Which quickly devolved into them tussling and getting tangled in the sheets.

“You’re drunk,” Nick said.

“And you don’t sleep on your back, asshole.” Kelly pulled on Nick’s shoulder one more time. “Come on.”

Nick stared at him for a long moment. Long enough that Zane began to think that Kelly might give up and just roll over.

Then Nick sighed quietly and rolled into Kelly’s open arms. He wrapped his arms around Kelly’s torso and threw a leg over his hip. Kelly’s arms curled around Nick’s shoulders and he started to play with Nick’s hair.

Even in the low light Zane could see the way Nick began to relax and unfurl in Kelly’s hold. Zane was surprised, Nick seemed more like the type of guy who would want to do the holding instead of being held.

Ty burrowed further into Zane’s neck and Zane smiled.

Then again, Zane thought, maybe it made perfect sense that someone like Nick would be a cuddler.

In the dark, Zane watched Kelly turn to rub his cheek against Nick’s temple.

“Goodnight, Nicko,” Kelly whispered.

“Night, Kels.”

Ty sat up suddenly and chucked a pillow at the two of them. “Go the fuck to sleep or I’m throwing you both over the balcony.”

Zane bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing as he pulled his partner back down to the bed beside him. “Ty, calm down.”

Nick and Kelly remained wrapped around each other as they giggled loudly.

Ty muttered under his breath as he burrowed against Zane once again.


	2. No. 2 — Nola Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zane stops by the hospital in New Orleans on his way to the airport near the end of Touch & Geaux.

Zane hitched his duffle bag a little higher on his shoulder. He ducked out of the way of a nurse pushing a patient through the hallway in a wheelchair. He was barely able not to spill the drinks in the cardboard holder he had in his hand.

This whole visit felt a little awkward but Ty had talked about Zane being a phoenix and how he needed to find his own reasons to be sober. Zane was understandably more than a little heartsick over the idea of going back to their row house alone. But Ty had some good points and they really did have a lot they needed to work out on their own before fixing their mutual issues.

Which was why Zane was here in the hospital, visiting Ty’s friends. He knew that if he didn’t leave the hotel room with some kind of forward-thinking goal in mind for how he’d spend his time before his flight back home that he would end up spending the whole time brooding. Or fretting. Or over analyzing.

He didn’t know the city well enough to explore it with so few hours left but he did know of one place he could go to spend a few hours without getting lost or slipping too far into his own head.

Plus, a peace offering might not be a bad idea.

Once the nurse passed by Zane returned to studying the room numbers as he made his way through the hospital. He peeked into 312 and saw that Nick was the only one visiting Kelly at the moment.

Nick was sitting in what was probably an uncomfortable chair. His elbows were propped on the bed next to Kelly’s hip. Nick held Kelly’s hand in his own. Kelly’s curled fingers were pressed against Nick’s lips as Nick stared with shadowed green, tear-shined eyes at Kelly on the bed.

The scene made Zane’s chest ache. He knew all of Sidewinder was taking Kelly’s injury hard. But Nick seemed to be taking it hardest of all. Once the others had seen Kelly wake up after surgery and laugh again they seemed content to bar crawl and move on with their lives. Nick had chosen to stay behind and keep him company.

Zane thought back to all the times he’d sat at Ty’s bedside over the last few years. All the times he’d sat there with his heart in his throat as he mentally made bargains with God and begged Ty to just open his damn eyes.

Zane looked away.

He knocked on the doorjamb with the hand that wasn’t holding the drink carrier.

Nick glanced at him and forced a smile. Zane saw him blink rapidly and wipe his eyes before he turned to look fully at Zane.

Zane lifted the brown takeout bag in his left hand and the drink carrier in his right.

“Ty ends up in these places a lot and I heard you haven’t been leaving his bedside very often,” Zane said with a shrug. “I figured you could use some real food.”

Nick’s smile warmed. “Thanks, Garrett.”

Nick stood and cleared the hospital bed table. Zane set down the drink carrier and bag of food. They each selected a drink and a foil wrapped sandwich. Zane dropped his duffle onto the floor next to the other chair and sat down.

Nick turned his chair a bit so he was turned toward Zane without facing away from Kelly. He unwrapped his sandwich and began to eat. His left hand drifted back to the bed to tangle with Kelly’s lax fingers.

Zane swallowed hard against the ache in his heart at the sight of Nick clutching Kelly’s hand.

“How is he doing?” Zane asked.

“Better,” Nick said with a nod. “They gave him something to help him sleep. Which he bitched about until he passed out. He should be fine, just needs to rest and heal.”

Nick’s grip on Kelly’s hand tightened slightly as he spoke.

“That’s good news.”

“It is,” Nick said in a soft voice. He cleared his throat and nodded at Zane’s duffle. “You guys leaving?”

“I am,” Zane said.

Nick frowned.

Zane smiled and shook his head. “Not like that, O’Flaherty. Ty wanted to stay here for a little while, get his head on straight. And there are some things I need to work out for myself. Once we do that he’ll come home and we can move on. Move past all of this.”

Nick studied him for a moment and nodded. “I think that’ll be good for you two.”

“That’s the hope,” Zane said with a smile. “What about you?”

Nick shook his head. “I’ll stay with him until he’s well enough to be okay on his own.”

Zane raised his eyebrows.

Nick crumpled the empty foil wrapper from his sandwich in one hand and tossed it onto the table. He shrugged.

“Doc doesn’t really have anyone else to do it and I’ve got some time off that I can use.”

“You’re a good friend, O’Flaherty.”

Nick’s laugh sounded a touch bitter. “Yeah.”

Nick grabbed his drink and settled back into his chair. His thumb rubbed across Kelly’s knuckles and Zane wondered if Nick was even aware that he was doing it. Nick’s eyes never left Kelly’s face as he sipped his drink.

Zane finished off his sandwich and gathered up their trash, disposing of it in the trash can by the door.

The room was heavy with emotion around them. Nick was watching Kelly in glassy-eyed silence. He had one hand resting over his mouth and the other continued to stroke Kelly’s fingers. The look in Nick’s eyes reminded Zane of the one he’d seen on Nick a few nights before in the hotel room.

Just as Zane was returning to his chair, Kelly began to stir. Kelly’s brow furrowed and his eyes fluttered open. Nick stood over him as Kelly started to flex his legs under the blankets.

“Kels?” Nick asked.

“Hey, Nicko,” Kelly said in a hoarse whisper.

Nick leaned forward to press his forehead against Kelly’s. Kelly leaned into his touch.

“How was your nap?” Nick asked in a soft voice.

Kelly grunted. “Shitty. I hurt.”

Zane moved to the other side of the bed and pressed the call button to let the nurses know that Kelly had woken up.

Nick mouthed out _thank you_ at Zane before turning back to Kelly.

Zane watched them whisper to each other while they waited for the nurse to arrive. The fondness in Nick’s gaze as he smiled at whatever Kelly was saying made Zane smile.

He started to wonder if the two men were more than just friends and Recon teammates. They’d spent much of the weekend before Kelly was shot glued to each other’s hips and the looks on their faces while they spoke here in the hospital reminded Zane of the love he’d seen hundreds of times reflected back at him from Ty’s eyes.

Once the nurse, and later Kelly’s doctor, arrived, Zane pulled Nick away from his guard-dog-like post next to the bed.

“I have to head to the airport soon. Is there anything else I can do before I go?” Zane asked.

Nick tore his gaze away from where Kelly was being looked over on the bed. He smiled at Zane and shook his head. “I don’t think so.” Nick patted him on the shoulder. “Thanks, Garrett.”

“No problem,” Zane said.

After the nurse and doctor left the room, Zane grabbed his duffle bag, said goodbye to Kelly and waved at Nick as he made his way out of the room.

In the doorway he turned back to give Nick one last glance. The man had returned to his chair next to Kelly’s bed. He was murmuring to Kelly with a slight smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes. Whatever he said made Kelly snort and shake his head. He was staring back at Nick with a similarly fond smile while he listened to Nick speak.

Zane couldn’t see their hands, but he would guess that they were tangled together on the bed next to Kelly’s hip once again. He was also thinking his chances would be good if anyone was placing bets on those two secretly being together, or getting together soon.

Zane smiled and made his way back down the hospital hallway. For their sake he hoped things went smoother between them than they had with him and Ty.

As Kelly’s room got farther behind him, Zane’s thoughts turned toward the improvements he needed to make once he got back to Baltimore. After waving down a cab and sliding into the backseat, he pulled out his cellphone and thumbed through his contacts. By the time he reached the airport he felt a little more settled after a positive conversation with his sponsor.


	3. No. 3 — Bait & Switch Dinner Together

Spending the evening with two of Ty’s teammates was bittersweet for Zane. He was growing fond of Kelly’s dry wit and Nick’s obvious capacity for caring for others. They made good company, but listening to Kelly tell stories about Ty from their Recon days made the ache in his chest sting a little more.

Nick was mostly quiet throughout dinner. He’d laugh once in a while at Kelly’s stories and he’d asked Zane a few questions about how he was doing without Ty home. Zane recognized the wellness check questions for what they were, but he was thankful that Ty had at least one friend who cared enough to make sure he was all right. Even if it was only for Ty’s piece of mind.

Watching the two men across the table from him drift closer and closer as the night passed reminded Zane of his visit to the hospital before leaving New Orleans earlier that year. There was a different level of familiarity between Nick and Kelly that they either hadn’t had in New Orleans or Zane hadn’t picked up on it back then. He had been fairly distracted that weekend.

Zane watched Nick relax back into the booth and slide an arm around Kelly’s shoulders. Kelly leaned into Nick’s touch and gave him a small, intimate smile before he turned back to Zane to finish his story. Nick was watching Kelly’s profile like he wanted to study each detail of the man’s face before his leave was up. There were shadows around Nick’s eyes, but the haunted look he’d arrived at the row house with seemed to lighten whenever he was looking at Kelly.

When Kelly finished his story Zane took a sip from his water glass and steeled himself to ask a question that’d been tumbling around the back of his mind all night. Well, the one question he knew wouldn’t be likely to violate national security, anyway. One that would hopefully distract him from thoughts of Ty for a little bit longer.

“So, Nick, do you have anyone special waiting for you back in Boston?”

Nick shook his head. Before he could verbalize an answer Kelly snorted and patted Nick’s thigh.

“Nick is commitment shy. There was a firefighter he was seeing before Nola but he called him up and broke it off after the Marines showed up on my porch,” Kelly said.

“Really?” Zane asked.

Nick shrugged. “We weren’t particularly serious. It was more physical.”

Kelly chuckled as he took a sip of his water.

Zane looked back and forth between them, frowning slightly. Kelly was practically melted against Nick’s side and Nick hadn’t shown any signs of relaxing until after Kelly had arrived outside the row house that afternoon.

Did the two men even realize how much chemistry they had between them?

Zane thought about asking them about it but ultimately decided against it. It wasn’t really any of his business and even if they were together asking about it would probably make their current separation due to Nick’s deployment hurt even more.

They left the restaurant after Nick and Kelly managed to have a nearly silent conversation about whether or not to order dessert. There’d been a lot of head tilts, narrowed eyes, raised eyebrows and pouting lips before Kelly had finally given in and told the waiter he would pass on the offered cannoli.

He’d patted his stomach and told the waiter he wanted to maintain his girlish figure. Then mentioned something about his plans to get worked out a lot over the next few days. Nick’s cheeks had flushed and he’d choked on his water.

Zane had narrowed his eyes at the phrasing and Nick’s reaction, but ultimately decided he didn’t need more unwanted mental images. So he didn’t ask. The way Kelly had shifted in his seat under Nick’s sparking gaze made Zane thankful that he didn’t know what was going on in their minds at the moment. It was one thing to recognize that the two men had chemistry, it was quite another to actually know what kinds of things they might be wanting to do to each other.

Later, when he’d urged them out the door of the row house, Zane was forced to bite the inside of his cheek against a laugh over the barely nonchalant eagerness in both of the men. It was obvious they had other places they wanted to be that evening.

He waved them goodbye and made his way upstairs to the part of the attic he’d turned into his studio. Tonight he felt like painting.


	4. No. 4 — Milkshakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zane's observations while getting milkshakes with Team Sidewinder after their return home at the beginning of Ball & Chain

Elated. Relieved. Dancing on tip-toes on a moonlit street in the rain.

Better than any back alley exchanged high he’d ever prayed he wouldn’t live through in his darkest times.

That’s how it felt to have Ty sitting in the booth of the little 1950s style diner next to him again. Ty’s hair was shaggy. His skin was sun, sand and wind blown, and he looked more beautiful than anything Zane had ever seen in his life.

If the way Ty seemed to always be leaning into his touches while they ate, his fingers seeking out Zane’s fingers and thighs and back as he spoke, then Zane was sure that Ty was floating in the same cloud of _is it really real_? _is he really here_? that Zane was floating in.

Digger and Owen had flirted with just about every waitress that passed their table in the last hour. At least two of them had accepted their phone numbers scribbled on napkins and slid into their aprons. Zane was sure the little diner wouldn’t be their last stop for the evening and that any of the ladies they ended up with before the sun rose tomorrow would be treated to a good time.

Nick and Kelly sat in the back of the half-circle booth. Nick’s arm was wrapped around Kelly’s shoulders. Zane watched as Kelly continued to nearly rest his hand on Nick’s legs while talking—he always pulled his hand away at the last second—making it look like he’d flailed at something.

Zane found himself reaching for Ty’s thigh after the tenth time of watching Kelly reach for Nick only to pull away. He wondered if Kelly was stopping for Sidewinder’s benefit or Nick’s.

Eventually, Owen and Digger said their goodbyes. They gave their teammates hugs and shook Zane’s hand. They chatted up the pretty waitresses for a bit before leaving the diner to start their welcome home bar crawl.

An eerie silence settled over the table when the door closed behind Owen and Digger. Nick had avoided speaking to Ty through much of the meal and Zane wondered if the man was tired or if something had happened between the two men.

Ty shifted in the booth next to Zane for a moment before motioning for the check. He left the table to pay it at the front register almost as soon as the waitress handed it over.

Zane watched him walk away. He noticed that the way Ty held himself was different now. A little more rigid in the spine. His energy was more contained instead of flying loose through his flailing limbs. There was far more of the Marine in his partner now than Zane had seen for the majority of the last few years that they’d known each other.

When Zane looked back at the table he saw that Nick was also watching Ty walk across the restaurant. But instead of seeing pride or companionship or even fondness in Nick’s eyes Zane swore there was a hardness there in the set of his jaw and the shadow around Nick’s green eyes.

Nick’s gaze flicked to Zane like he could feel the weight of Zane’s eyes on him. With a blink of Nick’s eyes the look was gone and the world-weary smile he’d worn most of the afternoon was back.

Zane frowned.

“Hey, Irish, check it out,” Kelly said.

Nick turned to look as Kelly pulled the straw out of his strawberry milkshake, which he was now drinking out of the metal mixing cup.

“My straw is clogged,” Kelly said as he motioned at the chunk of strawberry stuck in the end of his straw. “Think I can get it out?”

Nick snorted.

Kelly smirked before wrapping his lips around the other end of the straw and beginning to suck. Nick’s eyes were glued to Kelly’s mouth. Kelly’s odd-colored eyes gleamed with mischief. For a while it seemed the strawberry wasn’t going to move from the straw. When it finally did move Zane heard Nick hiss. A moment later Kelly stuck his tongue out at Nick to show him the recovered bit of fruit.

“I’ve been practicing,” Kelly said quietly.

Nick pulled him closer and leaned in to growl something that sounded suspiciously close to _mine_ in Kelly’s ear.

Kelly’s smile softened. He dropped his straw back into the metal cup. Then he turned in his seat so that his back was flattened against one side of Nick’s chest.

Nick shifted his arm so it was wrapped across Kelly’s chest. His thumb stroked the skin of Kelly’s neck. Nick pressed his nose into Kelly’s hair and closed his eyes. Kelly’s eyes drifted shut as well.

Zane suddenly felt like he was intruding on an intensely private moment between the two men.

Again he found himself wondering if there was something more to their relationship. And for the first time he found himself sympathetic if they were hiding their feelings for each other from their friends.


	5. No. 5 — Disheveled in the Corridor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zane tries to get a drunk Ty back to their hotel room in Ball & Chain and runs into some friends.

Zane led a stumbling, giggling Ty down the hallway toward their room. They were nearly there when he heard a groan followed by a short shout coming from farther down the hallway.

Zane frowned at the sound. He turned to look at Ty who was still holding Zane’s left hand in both of his and watching Zane like he was a brand new puppy with a bright red bow on Christmas morning.

“Did you hear that?” Zane whispered.

Ty cocked his head and paused for a moment to listen.

“No,” Ty said in a quiet voice. “What did you hear?”

“It sounded like people farther down the hallway. Maybe a struggle.”

Ty narrowed his eyes and swayed toward him. Zane wasn’t sure the swaying was intentional though.

“Are you trying to get out of fucking me through the mattress?” Ty asked.

Zane snorted. “You’re so drunk.”

Ty nodded. “That I am.”

There was another sound from down the hallway then. A drawn-out moan this time. Someone was definitely getting it on in the hallway.

Ty grinned at him before calling out, “Way to go, man!”

Zane rolled his eyes.

Before Zane could start to lead them toward their room again, Ty pulled him in for a slow kiss. His fingers slid into Zane’s hair as he held their mouths together. Zane wrapped his arms around Ty’s back and held him close.

Ty tugged him until Zane had him pressed against the wall. Ty rolled his hips forward against Zane’s.

Zane tore away from the kiss and bit back a groan as Ty started to kiss down his neck.

“We are right around the corner from our room. Why are you trying to start something here?” Zane asked as quietly as he could.

Ty hummed against the skin above Zane’s pulse on his throat. “You should fuck me right here, Zane.”

Zane gritted his teeth and pulled Ty’s hands away from his hair. He pinned Ty’s arms—in a much lighter hold than he would have before Ty’s deployment—to the wall on either side of Ty’s head.

“No, I am not fucking you in the hallway two doors down from where your cousins are sleeping.”

“Ew,” Ty said before pressing his lips together and fighting not to grin. The expression made the gold in his hazel eyes sparkle with mischief and the faint dimples in his cheeks stand out.

“Come on, doll,” Zane said as he pulled Ty down the hallway. “We’re almost there.”

He turned the corner at the end of the hallway and ran straight into Nick and Kelly.

Kelly’s hair stood up at odd angles and his shirt was buttoned wrong. Nick’s shirt was untucked and wrinkled in a few places. Both of their mouths looked kiss-swollen and their innocent expressions were unconvincing. Zane would put money down on the fact that if Nick’s hair was longer at the moment it would be just as mussed as Kelly’s.

Zane raised an eyebrow at Nick and smiled.

Nick huffed as a blush washed across his cheeks.

“Nice job, guys. Which of the pretty bridesmaids did you just hook up with?” Ty asked as he swayed on his feet next to Zane.

Zane frowned at him. “Ty, I don’t think there was a—”

Ty scoffed and waved a hand at him. “I’ve seen them do it, Zane. These two could easily have hooked up with any of the bridesmaids this quickly.”

Kelly cleared his throat. “Yeah, bridesmaids. That’s what we were doing.”

Nick elbowed him in the ribs.

“We’re going to head into the kitchen. Grab a snack or something,” Nick said as he grabbed Kelly by the hand and started to lead him away.

Ty pointed at them as they walked away. “You stay away from my cousins! Bridesmaids are fine, but leave my baby cousins alone.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, Ty!” Kelly called back as they disappeared down the hallway.

“Ty, I don’t think you need to worry about your cousins with those two,” Zane said as he tugged his incredibly drunk partner toward their room.

“Why?”

“I’m pretty sure they’re fucking each other, Ty.”

Ty giggled. “No way. Those two? Nah, they’re just touchy-feely with each other. And the bridesmaid they hooked up with must have started talking about catching the bouquet which made Nick peel out of there like his ass was on fire.”

“Ty, no. I’m almost positive that there was no bridesmaid with them tonight,” Zane said as he stepped around a suspicious wet spot on the carpet.

“Doc likes girls, Zane. It’s not possible.”

“Ty, _you_ like girls. I like girls, so does Nick, that doesn’t mean they aren’t fucking each other.”

Ty leaned his forehead against Zane’s shoulder while Zane unlocked the door to their room.

Ty groaned. “Zane, I don’t want to talk about who my friends are fucking. I want you to fuck me.”

“Baby, you’re hopeless and I love you.”


	6. No. 6 — I knew it!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following this moment in Ball & Chain:
> 
> The door shut with a muffled click. Nick stared at the door as Zane stared at him. When Nick finally glanced at him, still looking stunned, Zane pointed a finger at him and shouted, “I knew it!”
> 
> Roux, Abigail (2014-03-15). Ball & Chain (Cut & Run) (p. 122). Riptide Publishing. Kindle Edition.

> _The door shut with a muffled click. Nick stared at the door as Zane stared at him. When Nick finally glanced at him, still looking stunned, Zane pointed a finger at him and shouted, “I knew it!”_
> 
>   
>  Roux, Abigail (2014-03-15). Ball  & Chain (Cut & Run) (p. 122). Riptide Publishing. Kindle Edition.

 

Zane laughed as he dropped his hand to the wet bar.

Nick’s eyes were still comically wide as he blinked at Zane. Then, ever so slowly, a grin spread across his face. Nick shook his head and cleared his throat, obviously trying to fight against the smile on his face.

“So, that happened,” Zane said.

“Yes, yes it did,” Nick said with a nod. He leaned forward against the wet bar and covered his eyes with one hand. His shoulders shook as he started to laugh. “Crazy bastard will be the death of me,” Nick said in a fond voice.

“Welcome to the club,” Zane said.

Nick ran his trembling fingers through his hair. He stared out at the room for a long moment like he was wrestling with a decision. Eventually he looked at Zane. “When did you figure it out?”

“I first suspected in New Orleans, actually.”

Nick’s eyebrows raised. “Really?”

Zane nodded. “When I stopped by the hospital on my way out of the city. Something about the way you watched him reminded me of the way I am every time Ty ends up in a hospital bed. But I didn’t really _know_ until we ran into you last night in the fucking hallway.”

Nick snorted.

He stared down at his hands on top of the wet bar. Zane could see that the smile still hadn’t left his face.

“It started after New Orleans, actually. When I went with Kelly to Colorado.” Nick traced his finger along to top of the bar. “Kelly gets in these crazy moods. Gets these insane ideas. Usually they end with my ass in a wetsuit or a shark cage or with a bungee cord wrapped around my waist in some country neither of us can pronounce. But that time…he got it in his head that he wanted me to kiss him. And I refused. And I kept refusing until I finally figured that kissing him would be the only way to get him to shut up about it.”

Nick shrugged one shoulder as he looked up at Zane again.

“That one fucking kiss, man. Spun my whole world out of orbit and snapped everything into place at the same time. Then the fucking Marines showed up on his porch with my papers and there was no more time.”

“Damn,” Zane said.

Nick gave him a weak smile.

“So when you stopped in Baltimore on your leave?”

“I was so nervous about that. Then he was just there in front of your house and I couldn’t hold him soon enough and that’s when I knew.”

“You two seem to fit well, though. You both seem a little more settled when you’re together.”

“When he’s not bouncing off the walls and I’m not trying to kill people with my mind you mean,” Nick said with a wry smile.

Zane nodded. “Yes, that.”


End file.
